John Deere 445 - PTO problem

rocksoldierMay 22, 2007

Hi all,

I have a John Deere 445. I've had it for about five years and it is a great tractor. I was cutting the grass on Monday and had to move one of the kids toys on the lawn. I turned off the PTO like I always do (push down on the PTO knob), put the brake on and move the toy. I got back on, turned the brake off and the PTO would not engage. There was no grinding noise or anything. I changed the PTO to the rear and tried again, still nothing so I don't think it is a PTO gear issue.

With tractor running, brake off and the PTO switch in the on position (up) test the wire leading to the PTO solenoid (at the top of the transaxle on the backside). Metal cylinder stick out with a plastic nut on the end of it with a wire leading to it. See if it is hot. If it's getting juice then the solenoid is bad. If no juice then start checking the switches. Also make sure you're not really low on hydro fluid.

Thanks macguy.
I did some tests. This might help in further troubleshooting.
The seat switch seems ok: I started the tractor, brake off, got off the seat and the engine died when I put the PTO on.
Juice is getting to the solenoid - how easy is it to change one of those?!?
My hydro fluid was low also, just barely above the bottom line. So before I get the solenoid changed, I'll top up the fluid and try it again.

Rocksoldier, unplug the connector at the PTO and see how many volts you're getting there; if you're not getting 12, your battery might be too low to activate the PTO. This happens on my Power King whenever the battery gets low - that is, the tractor runs fine, but the PTO won't engage.
(Pull the connector wires loose, then have someone sit in the seat and activate the PTO switch, then take a reading of voltage in the connector.)

Hi all,
The battery is new this spring and it is giving me 12 volts at the solenoid connector. I removed the solenoid, pretty easy. When I was testing for voltage, with the solenoid removed, the PTO light was on - the PTO light would not light before I disconnected the solenoid.

From your comments, it's almost certainly a bad solenoid. Thanks for your help.

Hi, me again. I know it's been a while but was back here for something else and figured I should put up what the problem was. After doing some testing of the electrical, it was the PTO switch (yellow switch to the left of steering wheel) that needed to be replaced!!! I would of never thought.
Thanks for all your help.